More at Four

What is the More at Four Pre-K Program?

The More at Four Pre-kindergarten Program is a state-funded, community based, voluntary pre-kindergarten initiative designed to prepare at-risk four year-olds in North Carolina for success in school.  Programs are to meet high-quality standards, with a specific curriculum that is focused on preparing children in developmentally appropriate ways for success in schools (e.g. emphasis on literacy, numbers, physical/fine-motor development, and problem solving/thinking).

Eligibility for More at Four Pre-K Programs

Children to be enrolled must be four years of age on or before August 31st of the program year (New for 2008-2009).  Children age eligible for kindergarten cannot be served with More at Four funds.  They must be eligible for public kindergarten the following year.

Children served in a More at Four slot must meet age requirements, income eligibility, or eligibility for children in military families, and service priority criteria. Eligibility for More at Four is determined by family size and gross income.  Children in families with annual income at or below 75% of the State Median Income (SMI) level are eligible for More at Four services.  When a family's gross income exceeds 75% of the State Median Income (SMI), a child is deemed eligible if the following conditions are met.  Their gross income is below 300% of poverty, and they meet one of the criteria listed below:

• Limited English Proficiency (LEP) as indicated by the family and/or child speaking limited or no English in the home:

• Identified Disability as indicated by the child having a current Individualized Education Program (IEP);

• Chronic Health Condition as indicated by a health care provider diagnosis; e.g., asthma, childhood obesity, sickle cell anemia, cancer, HIV:

• Development/Educational Need as indicated by the child performance results on a developmental screen.

Up to 20% of a county's/region's More at Four slots may be filled by children above the 75% of State Median Income level if a child meets at least one of the criteria listed above.

A child is eligible for More at Four if at least one parent or legal guardian of this child is an active duty member of the armed forces of the United States (Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard) or the North Carolina National Guard or other state military force, or a Reserve Unit of the armed forces who is ordered to active duty by the proper authority within the last 18 months or expected to be ordered within the next 18 months.  A child whose parent or legal guardian has been seriously injured or killed while on active duty is also eligible.

Military eligible children are not counted in the county's allowable percentage of slots serving children over 75% of State Median Income.

After a pool of eligible children is determined, service priority status (served vs. unserved) should be used to prioritize those children for More at Four services. 

1.  Unserved Children

• Children who have never been served in any preschool or child care setting.

• Children who are currently unserved (previously in preschool or child setting).

• Children served for 5 months or less in the year prior to service in the More at Four program in any preschool or child care setting.

2.  Underserved Children

• Children who are in unregulated child care that does not need the More at Four Pre-K standards.

• Children who are in a regulated preschool or child care setting, but are not receiving subsidy.

• Other children, including those in pre-kindergartens or child care settings that do not meet More at Four program standards.  This is the last resort and documentation that children who fit the unserved category were diligently recruited should be available.

Exception:  More at Four Pre-K slots designated to a site can be used to serve that site's three-year-old children when they become age eligible for More at Four and meet Four at Four eligibility requirements.  However, the total number of slots used to maintain services for previously served three-year-old children may not exceed 50% of a county's slots.

Children with Disabilities.  More at Four programs are encourage to be inclusive.  The value of inclusive settings ensures that each child's strengths, unique learning needs, and abilities are addressed. 

Public schools are required by federal law to provide special education to eligible 4-year-old.  More at Four Pre-Kindergarten Programs (regardless of the setting) and public schools will collaborate in the development and implementation of a child's IEP (Individualized Education Program). 

Why North Carolina Needs a Pre-K Program

122,205 four year olds in North Carolina (State Data Center - July 2005 projections based on 2000 Census)

• An estimated 59,044 at risk based on family income (OSR, 2005-2006)

• Approximately 35,712 currently served in some way through public schools, Head Start, or subsidy to private child care, leaving at least 14,662 at-risk four-year-olds unserved in any capacity.  Additionally, too many of the served children are not in the kinds of settings that will prepare them for success in schools. (OSR, 2005-2006)

• Until More at Four, North Carolina and Mississippi were the only southern states without a state pre-k program.

How Do We Know More at Four (Pre-K Programs) Will Work?

The More at Four Pre-K Program is based on solid research that shows high-quality pre-kindergartens are successful in helping at-risk four-year-olds to be successful in school.

• Well designed studies have shown the success of high-quality pre-kindergarten  programs in helping at-risk students succeed in K-12 education.

• Several studies (e.g., Perry Preschool Project, Abcederian Study, more recent analyses of Head Start, Chicago Child-Parent Centers long-term study) have followed children over many years, finding not only short-term academic benefits of Pre-K but longer term (e.g., high school completion, more years of educational attainment) and positive non-educational outcomes (lower arrest rates) for these students.

• Several studies (the Chicago Study, Rand Report 2000) also note that participation in Pre-K combined with lower class size in the primary grades results in even greater positive outcomes for children.

• Pre- and post-tests in 2004-2005 for a sample of More at Four children showed significant gains in 8 of 10 child measures.

How Will the Success of More at Four Pre-K Program be Determined?

There is a plan for evaluating the current and long-term success of the More at Four Pre-K Program, using an outside, independent evaluator.  The evaluation design and contract was started in 2001-02.  In 2002-03, a random sample of children who have a full-year of pre-kindergarten will be included in a pre-post assessment.  There is also a provision in the authorizing legislation that would require the More at Four Pre-K Program to link to the public school information management system to allow us to follow children into public schools.

How Does More at Four Leverage Existing Funding?

More at Four does not provide the full cost of a high-quality, educational pre-k program.  The current funding provides approximately half the estimated cost of such a pre-k program.  Legislation requires other resources (either cash or in-kind) to be accessed.  Other resources may include Title 1, preschool disability public school funds, Smart Start funds, Head Start funds, child care subsidy funds, private contributions, county allocations, and grants.  In addition, More at Four builds on the existing service delivery systems.  That is, individual students and/or entire classrooms participating in More at Four are located in public schools, Head Start programs, and private child care centers (non-profit and for-profit).  If any of these sites agrees to admit even one More at Four-funded child, they must meet all the related program standards and requirements.  Thus, the program builds on and expands current programs, while ensuring that they implement program features based on research for pre-k programs effective in raising student achievement.

How is More at Four Different from Smart Start?

Smart Start has a stated mission to ensure that children reach school ready to be successful and empowers local decisions about how to best use funds (within certain limits) to accomplish that goal.  However, its implementation is much boarder and is focused on building an infra-structure to improve the quality of child care across all ages, birth to five.  It also provides subsidy funding for at-risk children of all preschool ages, not just four-year-olds.  The payments are not necessarily linked to programs with the specific curriculum and staff standards that More at Four requires, unless they are helping to support a More at Four class.  Smart Start is a non-profit organization that receives state and private funds.

What Curricula Can be Used?

All classrooms are required to select and implement a research-based curriculum.  The curriculum should have appropriate academic emphasis and research that shows it helps prepare students for success in school.  Five curricula have been recommended. 

The recommended curricula are:

• Bright Beginnings Pre-Kindergarten Curriculum

• Creative Curriculum for Early Childhood

• Educating Young Children

• Explorations with Young Children:  A Curriculum Guide from the Bank Street College

• The Montessori Method

Program Standards in Brief

• Maximum class size of 18; lead teacher and teacher assistant (ration of 1:9)

• Birth-Kindergarten Licensure required for lead teacher; programs have four years to comply

• Child Development Associate credential for teacher assistant, with strong encouragement to obtain two-year associate's degree in early childhood or child development

• 4- or 5- license; 3-star license allowed if upgrades to 4-star within three years

Where Are We Now?

• More at Four state-funded slots have grown from 1,621 in 2001-02 to 18,655 for the 2006-07 school year.

• Diverse Delivery Settings:  Of all More at Four sites in the 2006-07 school year, 54 percent are public school, 33 percent are private child care centers, and 13 percent for Head Start programs.

• Among the 91 contractors at the county/region level, 49 are school systems, 39 are local partnerships for children and 2 are Head Start Programs, with 1 other.

• The Birth-through-Kindergarten Teacher Licensure Unit was established in 2006 to assist More at Four teachers in non-public school settings who are working toward licensure.

• The More at Four state office is in the NC Office of School Readiness (OSR), which is a new office within the NC Department of Public Instruction effective July 1, 2006, as legislated by the General Assembly this year.  The OSR was created in 2005 in order to better coordinate and integrate state and federally-funded pre-kindergarten and preschool programs and to promote high-quality education opportunities that children need to be ready for school success.  The office includes:  Even Start Family Literacy, Head Start State Collaboration Office, More at Four Pre-Kindergarten Program, Preschool Exceptional Children and Title 1 Preschool.

(Source:  NC Office of School Readiness Department of Public Instruction - More at Four Pre-kindergarten Program  Fact Sheet, MAF Guidelines and Requirements)

MAF Pre-Kindergarten

for the

2007-2008

School Year

 Program is available in all 100 counties. 

Children served:  27,674 in 2007-2008 (as of 1-22-2008)

Over 57 percent of More at Four lead teachers now hold a Birth-Kindergarten (B-K) license, Preschool Add-on license or provisional B-K license, as standards require, up from 28.6 percent in 2002-2003

81.3 percent hold at least a bachelor's degrees.

95% of state appropriations for More at Four support classroom operations.  The average state operating cost per slot is $4,450 per year, about half the cost of high-quality pre-k.

1,991 classrooms across the state

(Source of information:  More at Four Pre-Kindergarten Program Progress Report to Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee - February 1, 2008)

Surry County Information

Surry County Early Childhood Partnership, Inc. (Smart Start) is the administrator for More at Four (MAF) program in Surry County.  For the 2007-2008 school year, Surry County was allotted 264 More at Four slots and 283 children served as of 01/22/2008.  There are currently 6 MAF Providers consisting of 18 sites and 24 classrooms.  For the 2008-2009 school year, Surry County was allotted 270 More at Four slots.

More at Four Providers

• Bright Beginnings Preschool

• Elkin City Schools

• Life Span Circle Schools

• Mount Airy City Schools

• Surry County Schools

• YVEDDI (Headstart)

   Office of School Readiness- click here

MAF Publications and Presentations

To contact us:

Phone: 336-786-1880
Fax: 336-786-1879

Email: smartstartofsurry@embarqmail.com